Phenomenon - anyone watch? any good?
11-01-07, 12:21 PM
#3
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
nothing too exciting. There were two that I thought were OK last night. The guy who stopped his heart for about 30 seconds was good. It was also fun to see Criss Angel challenge one of the contestants and pretty much saying he was full of it. I did enjoy that part. Most have been very disappointing though. Maybe one or two out of all of them are good. That's about it. I recommend recording, then fast forwarding all the filler.
11-01-07, 12:53 PM
#4
DVD Talk Hero
It's terrible. Really, really terrible.
Uri Geller's big "mentalism" presentation from last night should give you an idea of how silly this show is. He shows a bunch of planets in a circle and asks you to pick one. Then start at the first planet and count clockwise the number of letters in the planet you chose. Then take the number of letters in the planet you're now on and go clockwise from that. Periodically, he eliminates planets that mathematically don't work until finally -- magically
-- he knows what planet you're on. It's about as impressive as, "Pick a number, any number. Now multiply that number by zero. Waaaaaaatch, waaaaaatch. Is your new number zero?" You can tell Criss Angel's a little embarrassed to be on the same show as him.
One of the acts had some lady place a knife so it was vertically exposed in one of 5 preset bases (she chose which base). Then she obscures the knife (but not the base) with a cylinder of construction paper and asks a guest to switch them around in secret, so there's no way she knows where the knife is, because she obviously hasn't marked the base to know its precise location at all times. Then she "dramatically" smashes through the 4 no-knife bases with her hand, divining the knife's location with "telepathy" or some bullshit. It was all very silly.
Essentially the show is about performance, as most of the artists are taking very basic tricks that a child could do and trying to jazz them up in some entertaining way. But it's just not interesting or entertaining. The only real high point was Angel getting all holier-than-thou at the guy who claimed to communicate with the dead, which is doubly funny when you look back at some of the hilariously awful tricks Angel has padded his show with himself. He's clearly on this thing to get a paycheck and promote his A&E series. At one point the host asked him, "Are there any Houdini tricks you'd like to attempt some day but haven't?", and Angel just ignored the question and delivered a 3-minute rehearsed speech about the 4th season of Mindfreak.
This show genuinely made me dumber for having watched it.
das
Uri Geller's big "mentalism" presentation from last night should give you an idea of how silly this show is. He shows a bunch of planets in a circle and asks you to pick one. Then start at the first planet and count clockwise the number of letters in the planet you chose. Then take the number of letters in the planet you're now on and go clockwise from that. Periodically, he eliminates planets that mathematically don't work until finally -- magically
-- he knows what planet you're on. It's about as impressive as, "Pick a number, any number. Now multiply that number by zero. Waaaaaaatch, waaaaaatch. Is your new number zero?" You can tell Criss Angel's a little embarrassed to be on the same show as him.One of the acts had some lady place a knife so it was vertically exposed in one of 5 preset bases (she chose which base). Then she obscures the knife (but not the base) with a cylinder of construction paper and asks a guest to switch them around in secret, so there's no way she knows where the knife is, because she obviously hasn't marked the base to know its precise location at all times. Then she "dramatically" smashes through the 4 no-knife bases with her hand, divining the knife's location with "telepathy" or some bullshit. It was all very silly.
Essentially the show is about performance, as most of the artists are taking very basic tricks that a child could do and trying to jazz them up in some entertaining way. But it's just not interesting or entertaining. The only real high point was Angel getting all holier-than-thou at the guy who claimed to communicate with the dead, which is doubly funny when you look back at some of the hilariously awful tricks Angel has padded his show with himself. He's clearly on this thing to get a paycheck and promote his A&E series. At one point the host asked him, "Are there any Houdini tricks you'd like to attempt some day but haven't?", and Angel just ignored the question and delivered a 3-minute rehearsed speech about the 4th season of Mindfreak.
This show genuinely made me dumber for having watched it.
das
11-01-07, 01:32 PM
#6
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Florida, one time home of the space shuttle
Posts: 3,278
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have never been so bored watching a television show...I find the tricks lame, and the illusionists/mentalists without any personality or charisma at all. I was really looking forward to this show too...
11-01-07, 01:38 PM
#7
DVD Talk Limited Edition
i caught some of this last night and found it to be boring and stupid. The magicians have very little personality between them. I do like Jim Carroll but thats about it. The fight between Chris Angel and that mentalist was entertaining if it didn't seem staged (like everything else). Won't watch again, skip.
11-01-07, 01:41 PM
#8
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
i was flipping channels last night and remembered this things was on so i stopped on 4. it came back from commercial, british(?) dude was on staging talking talking talking, and then they cut to commercial again. wtf? that's all i remember.
11-01-07, 10:36 PM
#10
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,010
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Best part of this show was when Criss Angel was saying he would give that guy a million dollars if he could guess what was in the envelope 
Jim Carroll was the most entertaining so far, but he went through all of that to show the first trap was dangerous, and then basically through it away and put a new one out, which of course he didn't want anyone to test out before his "trick"...
Jim Carroll was the most entertaining so far, but he went through all of that to show the first trap was dangerous, and then basically through it away and put a new one out, which of course he didn't want anyone to test out before his "trick"...
11-02-07, 01:09 AM
#12
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,010
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Didn't hurt anything. His hand was fine last night when he got eliminated...Most of the tricks are pretty easy to fake, but some really do seem pretty hard if these people they pick really aren't plants. Like the whole phone number thing the one guy did. The young guy from this week was pretty cool too, but I didn't like how he revealed some of the ways he lead her into drawing a ying yang symbol. Also the tattoo did look fake. It seemed like it was smeared from sweat or something...The guy who stopped his heart was interesting, but his heart beat seemed pretty low to begin with... It was going between 59 and 60 judging by the machine which is low even for an extremely healthy person, especially being on live tv in front of a crowd...Seemed pretty suspicious...
11-02-07, 06:12 AM
#13
DVD Talk Hero
Isn't it a no-brainer that any show featuring Uri Geller would stink? The only thing that could make it any good would be seeing Geller being humiliated in his "psychic" fakery by The Amazing Randi or Penn & Teller.
Last edited by movielib; 11-02-07 at 06:15 AM.
11-04-07, 02:03 PM
#14
DVD Talk Legend
I just saw the first episode. Meh. The tricks were nothing new and it was clear that the celebrities that had sworn they never met the illusionists were all in on it. Not impressive.
I have the second two hour episode on the DVR. Not gonna waste my time though.
I have the second two hour episode on the DVR. Not gonna waste my time though.
11-08-07, 10:44 AM
#15
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 7,937
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I caught most of this last night. I don't know why I thought it would be anything other than amateur tricks, but the paintball one was especially bad. Either the gun was horribly rigged or the "sealed" box in the back was just some dude doctoring it up as they went. I don't know why they would have gone to such lengths to show that the laser sight on that gun didn't shoot within 3 feet of the aim.
Ah well, it was pretty funny to watch how mortified Angel was to be there. He just kept telling Uri to stop talking nonsense and judge the performance.
Ah well, it was pretty funny to watch how mortified Angel was to be there. He just kept telling Uri to stop talking nonsense and judge the performance.
11-08-07, 11:12 AM
#16
DVD Talk Hero
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Hail to the Redskins!
Posts: 25,295
Likes: 0
Received 49 Likes
on
38 Posts
Originally Posted by das Monkey
It's terrible. Really, really terrible.
Uri Geller's big "mentalism" presentation from last night should give you an idea of how silly this show is. He shows a bunch of planets in a circle and asks you to pick one. Then start at the first planet and count clockwise the number of letters in the planet you chose. Then take the number of letters in the planet you're now on and go clockwise from that. Periodically, he eliminates planets that mathematically don't work until finally -- magically -- he knows what planet you're on. It's about as impressive as, "Pick a number, any number. Now multiply that number by zero. Waaaaaaatch, waaaaaatch. Is your new number zero?" You can tell Criss Angel's a little embarrassed to be on the same show as him.
One of the acts had some lady place a knife so it was vertically exposed in one of 5 preset bases (she chose which base). Then she obscures the knife (but not the base) with a cylinder of construction paper and asks a guest to switch them around in secret, so there's no way she knows where the knife is, because she obviously hasn't marked the base to know its precise location at all times. Then she "dramatically" smashes through the 4 no-knife bases with her hand, divining the knife's location with "telepathy" or some bullshit. It was all very silly.
Essentially the show is about performance, as most of the artists are taking very basic tricks that a child could do and trying to jazz them up in some entertaining way. But it's just not interesting or entertaining. The only real high point was Angel getting all holier-than-thou at the guy who claimed to communicate with the dead, which is doubly funny when you look back at some of the hilariously awful tricks Angel has padded his show with himself. He's clearly on this thing to get a paycheck and promote his A&E series. At one point the host asked him, "Are there any Houdini tricks you'd like to attempt some day but haven't?", and Angel just ignored the question and delivered a 3-minute rehearsed speech about the 4th season of Mindfreak.
This show genuinely made me dumber for having watched it.
das
Uri Geller's big "mentalism" presentation from last night should give you an idea of how silly this show is. He shows a bunch of planets in a circle and asks you to pick one. Then start at the first planet and count clockwise the number of letters in the planet you chose. Then take the number of letters in the planet you're now on and go clockwise from that. Periodically, he eliminates planets that mathematically don't work until finally -- magically
-- he knows what planet you're on. It's about as impressive as, "Pick a number, any number. Now multiply that number by zero. Waaaaaaatch, waaaaaatch. Is your new number zero?" You can tell Criss Angel's a little embarrassed to be on the same show as him.One of the acts had some lady place a knife so it was vertically exposed in one of 5 preset bases (she chose which base). Then she obscures the knife (but not the base) with a cylinder of construction paper and asks a guest to switch them around in secret, so there's no way she knows where the knife is, because she obviously hasn't marked the base to know its precise location at all times. Then she "dramatically" smashes through the 4 no-knife bases with her hand, divining the knife's location with "telepathy" or some bullshit. It was all very silly.
Essentially the show is about performance, as most of the artists are taking very basic tricks that a child could do and trying to jazz them up in some entertaining way. But it's just not interesting or entertaining. The only real high point was Angel getting all holier-than-thou at the guy who claimed to communicate with the dead, which is doubly funny when you look back at some of the hilariously awful tricks Angel has padded his show with himself. He's clearly on this thing to get a paycheck and promote his A&E series. At one point the host asked him, "Are there any Houdini tricks you'd like to attempt some day but haven't?", and Angel just ignored the question and delivered a 3-minute rehearsed speech about the 4th season of Mindfreak.
This show genuinely made me dumber for having watched it.
das
I agree with you Das. It fucking sucks. I thought Gellar was disgraced. Now he looks like Leonard Nimoy 20 years ago.
11-08-07, 12:21 PM
#17
DVD Talk Hero
I actually needed a mental distraction last night, so I tuned in to see how bad it would be. I couldn't believe they had two more people do the "roulette" trick. The first guy feeds the woman which top to place on the containers, and the second guy hands her the initial beaker of water. It's the equivalent of handing someone a preselected marked card from a deck and then magically "finding" the card later. There's no sleight of hand, no level of mystery, no clever use of physics or misdirection; it's just stupid. However, seeing Angel squirm in his chair and slowly piss away his credibility as he does his best Paula Abdul impression almost makes it worth watching. I didn't expect to see spectacular magic or anything on this show, but it's barely above the level of a clown at a kids' birthday party. I half expect one of the contestants to steal someone's nose or pull a quarter out from behind an ear.
das
das
11-08-07, 09:30 PM
#18
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,010
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yeah, what was up with the paintball gun's laser sight? Was totally off on EVERY gun. Even the "celebrity" girls were mentioning it while they were shooting...Surprised the guy actually got bitten by a snake...although not sure if it was just planned, since he didn't get bitten by the poisonous ones...
11-09-07, 12:53 AM
#19
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Malibu, CA
Posts: 535
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Even though some of the tricks are relatively easy to figure out, I didn't think all of them were. Still an entertaining show.
Last nights show was the worst so far though. The guy getting bit was sort of funny. Also, the acid/water trick seemed so fake. I'm guessing they were all water and that the metal he put in the beaker just reacts violently to pure water. Metals like sodium flame up in water like that, remember junior high/high school chemistry class?? The paintball gun was the worst though. Would have been much better w/o a laser sight so at least he could blame the girls for having poor aim.
Last nights show was the worst so far though. The guy getting bit was sort of funny. Also, the acid/water trick seemed so fake. I'm guessing they were all water and that the metal he put in the beaker just reacts violently to pure water. Metals like sodium flame up in water like that, remember junior high/high school chemistry class?? The paintball gun was the worst though. Would have been much better w/o a laser sight so at least he could blame the girls for having poor aim.
11-09-07, 07:42 AM
#20
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Augusta, GA USA
Posts: 2,131
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You know, the worst thing about this show isn't the horrible "mentalists" they have on. It's the damn audience reaction shots. They'll cut to the audience and they'll be crying or have a really scared look on their face. I think everyone is in on this show.
I really can't stand this show, but I continue to watch every week just in case I miss something that is really cool (which I'm guessing won't happen). Does anyone else think that "Super" guy is channeling Dane Cook? He's got the exact same mannerisms and voice. Annoying.
I really can't stand this show, but I continue to watch every week just in case I miss something that is really cool (which I'm guessing won't happen). Does anyone else think that "Super" guy is channeling Dane Cook? He's got the exact same mannerisms and voice. Annoying.
